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Are we facing the end of cryptocurrencies? Listen to what the experts consulted on the radio programme Mediodia COPE have to say.

By Susana | 23 February, 2023 | Comments 0 Comment

The bankruptcy of FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, wreaked havoc on cryptocurrencies

This bankruptcy dragged down cryptocurrencies, leading the largest of them all, bitcoin, to accumulate a loss of 77% in the last year.

Is this the end of cryptocurrencies? It is possible, but unlikely. The crypto market is the youngest, most volatile, least known and most risky, which makes it difficult to compare with others. Last year’s drop, which Bank of America considers the fifth largest in history, is only the fourth largest drop in bitcoin in the last decade.

Cryptocurrencies are legal almost everywhere in the world, except in six countries, and are increasingly regulated and widely adopted by citizens, businesses and governments. Around 20 banks worldwide, almost all in the Americas and Europe, hold some $10 billion in cryptos.

The international body that sets solvency standards for banks worldwide, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, does not ban cryptocurrencies, but recommends limiting their exposure to 1% of their capital.

Moreover, they represent an opportunity for two billion unbanked people to access financial services and for people in countries in crisis to safeguard their funds.

Another fact to bear in mind is that 60% of cryptocurrency holders are under 30 years old and more and more organisations and companies around the world are accepting them to pay for goods, services, payroll or taxes.

On Mediodía COPE on 30/12/2022, several experts were consulted on the situation of the crypto market:

Herminio Fernández, CEO of EurocoinPay, believes that the crisis that cryptocurrencies are suffering at the moment is a readjustment of the crypto market.

The future of cryptocurrencies may seem uncertain, but it has solid foundations. The bad news could reflect a cleansing process of a crypto market that has grown too fast, as happened with the dotcom bubble.

What if this is not the end of cryptocurrencies, but just the beginning?

What do you think?

Source: Cope.es

Disclaimer: The information set out herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendations. All investments and trading involve risk and it is the responsibility of each individual to do their due diligence before making any investment decision.

Treasury delays the obligation to declare cryptocurrencies until 2024

By Susana | 4 January, 2023 | Comments 0 Comment

According to sources familiar with the matter, the postponement is due both to the frenetic activity of the last few months in tax matters and to calendar reasons.

The Ministry of Finance has decided to delay until 2024 the new reporting obligations on virtual currencies, a declaration that will affect balances and activities produced in 2023. All of this, explain sources from the department headed by María Jesús Montero, “without prejudice to the information already required on cryptocurrencies in the current tax return forms”, such as that relating to personal income tax (IRPF).

“The publication of the ministerial orders whose approval depends on the publication of the Regulation for the development of Law 11/2021, of 9 July, which is currently being processed, is still pending”, these sources explain. Therefore, in view of the regulatory timetable, the new reporting obligations on cryptocurrencies “will not be enforceable until 2024, with respect to 2023”.

The forms affected by this extension are 172, 173 and 721, which will be used respectively to declare balances and transactions in Spain and the holding of cryptoassets abroad. They are the method chosen by the Tax Agency to monitor all agents involved in the cryptocurrency chain: creators, exchange agencies, virtual wallets, exchanges and wallets, key custody services, suppliers and other companies and operators in the sector.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the delay is due both to the frenetic activity of the last few months in tax matters and to timing reasons after the Council of State, when evaluating the regulation, requested a report from the Data Protection Agency to analyse the impact of the models. For the time being, “it does not seem that the Data Protection Agency is going to ask for changes”. The Council of State could request changes, although this is not expected to happen for the time being.

Other experts consulted see more reasons. Emilio Pérez Pombo, tax advisor and economist, acknowledges that the Treasury is “overwhelmed” by all the activity of the last few months. However, he also believes that the ministry has realised that the models drafted “demanded information that made no sense or that was even impossible for operators to know”. Information should be requested, “but with a much lighter and more reasonable level of detail, in line with the nature of cryptoassets”, he adds.

If it remains as it is drafted, the draft “requires a great deal of information”, says Raquel Jurado, a tax advisor at the General Council of Economists specialising in these assets. For this reason, she adds, it is preferable for everything to be published in time for next year.

Models

The Treasury already presented its proposals for the aforementioned models on the public hearing portal in June. These drafts demanded a considerable amount of information from taxpayers with the aim of “improving the fiscal control of the taxable events that may arise” from the holding and operations with cryptocurrencies. However, months went by and the definitive publication did not appear in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The Treasury confirms that it will not appear in tomorrow’s BOE, the last of the year, so the obligations will be delayed for at least another year.

Forms 172 and 173 will be used to declare balances and transactions with cryptocurrencies to the Treasury. Those companies that are tax resident and that are participating in the sector by creating coins, providing safeguard services for cryptocurrency keys or services that connect with another activity will be obliged to file the declaration. Also, those companies that are exchange or digital money agencies or those that, on behalf of third-party companies or individuals, hold, store or transfer virtual currencies. In short, those individuals or companies that are resident in Spain and that participate in the sector, regardless of where the services are provided or where the virtual currencies or their holders are located.

Form 721, inspired by Form 720 for the declaration of assets abroad, obliges taxpayers to declare the virtual currencies they hold outside Spain. It will affect individuals who operate with cryptocurrencies beyond the border, but also beneficiaries, authorised persons and authorised agents.

The declarants, broadly speaking, will have to leave a record of their tax identification, information that will also be extended to the declarant. Among other points, it will also be necessary to report the public key or address with which the declarant’s electronic wallet is identified, the type of virtual currency, the number of units at the beginning and end of the specific period, the value of the cryptoassets and the balance at 31 December included in the public key.

Income

This extension, however, will not affect personal income tax returns for cryptocurrencies, which remain in force. The 2021 income tax campaign has already brought to light specific data on the amounts that cryptocurrencies move in Spain, as well as their presence in the market. According to data from the Tax Agency, almost 35,200 tax returns included gains derived from operations with virtual currencies, amounting to more than 759 million euros. In parallel, in wealth tax, a total of 1,275 declarants incorporated €911.9 million as the balance of their cryptocurrency portfolios at year-end.

Source: cincodias.elpais.com

Macro-survey: Do cryptocurrencies have a future?

By Susana | 28 December, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

The crisis suffered this year is so deep that it has raised warnings of a ‘crash’ in the crypto market. The experts consulted, however, see it clearly. They have a future, but a very different one from the past.

“One year in the crypto industry is equivalent to seven in any other. The financial year that is about to end supports this recurring warning from analysts. From the crypto market’s point of view, 2022 has been the antithesis of 2021. The falls have been exceptional, and not only because of the scale of the losses. Many investors, who have not been involved in traditional markets and who jumped into digital assets in the heat of the 2021 rally, are experiencing their first market crash, a new situation that is difficult to digest.

The scale of the falls also raises the level of tension. In little more than a year, the combined capitalisation of cryptocurrencies has plummeted from the three trillion dollars it reached with the historical records of November 2021 to the current 800 billion dollars. The bursting of the bubble has volatilised more than two trillion dollars.

The biggest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has plunged more than 60% with one week to go until the end of the year. And the storm has not yet dissipated. The trigger for the latest falls, the collapse of one of the world’s largest crypto platforms, FTX, is recent. Fears of a contagion of the crisis and the collapse of new companies in the crypto universe have triggered investors’ risk aversion.

Experts agree that crises such as those of FTX and the problems experienced by other entities in the sector prevent a rapid recovery of the market. On the other hand, the prolonged digestion of this crisis is creating precisely some of the necessary foundations for a future market upturn.

New investor profile

The crisis has substantially changed the average crypto investor’s profile. In the midst of the bullish rally, until November 2021, most investors jumped into the digital asset market with an eminently speculative nature, with the aim of reediting returns of three and even four digits, practically unattainable in any ‘traditional’ asset.

In little more than a year bitcoin, ethereum and the rest of the cryptocurrencies have gone from generating weekly returns of up to 100% to generating annual losses of more than 60%. This substantial change has caused a “cleansing” in the market of the most short-term profiles.

Investors, also conditioned by accumulated losses, are taking a more long-term view, and ‘withdrawing’ a record number of bitcoins from the market due to their strategy of holding on to their portfolio. Joaquín Robles, an analyst at XTB, reminds investors that “investors should not take past returns as a reference, as they were largely the result of an unjustified speculative movement”.

Regulation

The collapse in record time of one of the largest crypto trading platforms, FTX, has put to rest a long-standing debate as to whether regulation would be a threat or a necessary boost to the market. Supporters of the second option are now winning by a landslide.

From an investment perspective, Mirva Antilla, an analyst at WisdomTree, says that “it is very clear now that the industry needs to be regulated“. The same statement is echoed by crypto companies. Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, Deputy CEO of the Bitpanda platform, is quick to point out that the new European regulation, MiCA, “will be the next big step in the right direction, as it will streamline regulation and supervision in the EU and hopefully mitigate some of the chaos”.

While awaiting the effects of its implementation in the future, Pablo Valverde, co-founder of the Crowmie tokenisation platform, already sees a positive impact. Regulation, he explains, “allows crypto projects to become more established in society”, “because if a government regulates them, it is in fact accepting them, in one way or another, for the future of its country”.

The upheaval resulting from crypto regulation could come sooner than expected. In 2023, with MiCA and pilot regime regulations and transpositions in each country, Marcos Carrera, Blockchain expert at consultancy firm Grant Thorton, warns that “we may go from 0 to 200 in a few weeks”.

More fraud control

The experience of what happened with FTX and the increased regulatory zeal of the authorities will in turn lead to a sifting of the market. Crises like the one experienced this year can be dramatic for investors, but as Carlos Gomez, CIO of Belobaba Crypto Asset Fund, points out, “they also bring with them a cleansing of the market of many speculative and fraudulent players”.

“The crypto community is becoming more and more educated and aware of scams, just as pyramid scams were finally extinguished when the internet appeared in 2000”, stresses Alejandro San Nicolás, Blockchain expert and professor at the International University of Valencia (VIU).

Along the same lines, Belobaba’s head of investment highlights that internal risk management controls in the crypto industry will regain a relevance that has not been so closely monitored in recent times. Carlos Gómez predicts that “the year 2023 will be positive for the ecosystem as founders and project finance funds will become more aware of the need to build solutions to real problems, and hedge funds will (hopefully) learn to implement better risk management practices by minimising excessive leverage and low diversification”.

Greater risk control and a more selective and less speculative approach by investors are two of the factors on the rise. Gerard Bernal, CEO of the cryptobank VanQ, stresses that “the future will be the immediate present if we forget about the buck and start to consider cryptocurrencies as a container that must contain valuable content“. The more speculative temptations could be overthrown, he adds, by the growing prominence of, for example, “real digital assets”, which can be “simply a stake in a larger property, such as a real estate (or set of real estate) or a private company”.

Tokenisation is one of the broad growth avenues for the industry most pointed to by experts, as is the metaverse, or decentralised finance (DeFI), a field that not only poses a threat to the traditional financial industry. It also represents a potential source of collaboration. José Luis Martínez Campuzano, spokesman for the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), suggests that, under the umbrella of a regulatory framework, a future involvement of banks “could help to improve control and risk management practices in the ecosystem and provide more confidence”.

Investment opportunity

The experts stress in particular the attractiveness and transformative potential of the crypto universe due to its multiple uses. But neither do they overlook its potential attractiveness as an investment asset, albeit under different parameters to those prevailing until the bubble burst. After the current crisis, the widespread adoption of digital assets could still take between five and seven years, according to Manuel Villegas, an analyst at Julius Baer. Nevertheless, he makes it clear that “the disruptive potential of blockchain technology has not been impacted by this year’s crisis”.

From a more investment point of view, a number of experts recently agreed on a possible floor for bitcoin at the $13,000 level, compared to the current $17,000 level.

A possible catalyst in 2023 could be the halving of bitcoin, the reduction in the pace of issuance, expected in 2024 but whose effects on price levels could be brought forward to the point of opening the door to a “new bull cycle” between 2023 and 2025, according to Alberto Gordo, co-founder of Protein Capital. To do so, it must first confirm the end of the current downward cycle.

In this macro-survey conducted by Alejandro Sánchez and published on 23 December 2022 in Expansión, the leading multichannel brand of national and international economic information on markets, investment, companies, economy, employment, legal, executives and lifestyle, one of the respondents, Herminio Fernández, our CEO of EurocoinPay®, made clear his vision of cryptocurrencies and their future.

“Cryptocurrencies are the hardest substance in the universe”

Herminio Fernández, CEO of EurocoinPay®

For twelve years cryptocurrencies have been on an incredible journey. Knowing what will happen in the next twelve years is not easy, but they will certainly prevail, says the CEO of EurocoinPay®, who lists a number of factors that dispel doubts about the future of the crypto industry. “Major players such as MasterCard are beginning to adapt cryptocurrencies, the S&P Dow Jones indices are producing reflection points for them, and the largest Wall Street firms have indicated that they will be active participants in these markets. We’ve seen institutional interest grow, the EU is betting on regulation through MiCA regulation, and the US and its regulators are on how much regulation they will apply.” For all these reasons, he says, “it is clear that cryptocurrencies are worth taking seriously”. The challenges for cryptocurrencies centre on issues such as whether they consume a lot of electricity, the speed of transactions and cybersecurity risks. Looking ahead, “cryptocurrencies that are created with cryptocurrency is the hardest substance in the universe”, and although “adoption of this technology is at 3%”, “people will at some point realise that they have more to lose by not embracing this technology than by embracing it”.

Read the full article in Expansión

Source: expansion.com

EurocoinPay wishes you a Merry Christmas!!!

By Susana | 23 December, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

This Christmas we hope to light up your smile,
because Christmas softens the past,
gives value to the present and offers hope for the future.

We toast to a future always by your side.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023

The number of CNMV warnings about “financial beach bars” in Spain has increased eightfold in recent years

By Susana | 15 December, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

More than 400,000 Spaniards have fallen for digital currency scams, 90% through advertisements posted on social networks.

ETF Corp, AllCrypt Capital and Trading Business Academy are some of the 309 warnings issued by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) about unregistered entities (financial beach bars) up to October this year (latest available data). In the last four years, the number of warnings about “financial beach bars” in Spain has multiplied by eight and practically all the companies included in this blacklist have a common link: they are dedicated to cryptocurrencies.

In the absence of regulation to protect investors, and even in the absence of supervision by monetary authorities such as the Bank of Spain, cryptocurrency platforms are proliferating on social networks. And it does not seem that cases such as FTX or the more recent Binance will stop this trend. They have already caused fraud losses to more than 400,000 Spaniards and 90% fell into the trap precisely through the networks, according to EurocoinPay, a platform registered with the Bank of Spain for buying and selling electronic currencies. It is worth noting that cryptocurrencies moved 60,000 million euros in Spain in 2021, a figure that corresponds to 4.8% of GDP, according to data provided by the Bank of Spain itself.

If in 2018 the CNMV alerts amounted to 63, in line with previous years, in the following years these warnings exceeded 300. From the regulator they point out that the financial beach bars now offer cryptocurrencies “because they are fashionable”. “Before, they sold commodities,” they say. Their secret has been to use social networks to reach more people. “The cost of advertising on social networks is much cheaper,” explains Darío García, an analyst at XTB. The CEO and co-founder of EurocoinPay, Herminio Fernández, states categorically that “social networks are a total fraud”. “Right now, on social networks, every 14 advertisements there is one fraudulent one”, he says.

And the fact is that 90-95% of scams do not come from official companies, but from people who impersonate other companies or individuals recognised on social networks. This is why their advertisements are so credible. Moreover, at the beginning, in 2018, they were mainly aimed at the younger and generally less informed segment. Today, the profile of the cryptocurrency investor is a male between 26 and 40 years of age, who uses social networks and the internet intensively, and chooses to invest less than 5% of his capital. “The danger nowadays lies” in this age group “because the scams are more sophisticated”, says Herminio Fernández.

Currently, both Facebook and Twitter maintain a very strict policy on cryptocurrency advertising, but if the platforms are able to legally bypass the restrictions due to the lack of regulation, neither social network can prevent ads for these assets. “Social networks are so guilty that they even have some moral responsibility”, says XTB’s Garcia, “but they are not to blame.” “The crypto world is not a fraud, but the companies that operate in the name of cryptocurrencies are the ones that are committing scams,” he adds.

Late and incomplete regulation

Beyond the frauds that materialise every day on social networks, cryptocurrency scams are shaking the foundations of some of the most important cryptocurrency exchange platforms. Up until now, the biggest failure has been that of FTX, a bankruptcy caused by massive customer fraud and money laundering perpetrated by its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who has now been arrested. But the reality is that since the beginning of November all cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, have been falling on the stock market, and an investigation by the US Department of Justice into Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has come to light.

In the case of FTX, what began as a liquidity crisis in early November due to Binance’s refusal to bail out the platform, ended in a bankruptcy that left an $8 billion hole and $3 billion in debt. Its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, had been hailed as the ‘wonder boy’ of cryptocurrencies and FTX was once valued at $32 billion. And Binance had $60 billion in assets until today, according to Nansen data, when its investors withdrew $1.6 billion after the US investigation against it became known. In total, some 30 million people have relied on Binance to exchange digital currencies.

The forecast is that other digital currency platforms will fall in the coming months: “If there are audits due to the MiCA regulation, there will be a very important sifting of platforms because not all of them have real backing for the investments they make,” says Herminio Fernández. The president of the CNMV a few weeks ago, Rodrigo Buenaventura, said a few weeks ago about this sector that “the least socially useful part is all this kind of collective phenomenon around what will be the next cryptocurrency to make a splash“, because for him “it contributes nothing to Spanish society”.

In the wake of these latest scandals, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde has urged the European Union to “swiftly implement” the world’s only ongoing cryptoasset regulation, the Market Regulation for Cryptoassets (MiCA). “Its implementation will take a few months, if not a couple of years, unfortunately,” he said. It is a regulation that began to be discussed in September 2020, but whose approval by the three European institutions (the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council) has been delayed until just a few weeks ago, and also contemplates an adaptation period that will delay its entry into force in a practical way.

In any case, Lagarde has clarified that the MiCA “can only be a first step”, as there are some gaps around the protection of users. For example, it is still not very clear how ‘cold wallets’ will operate, i.e., when the investor or client has their own cryptocurrencies and protects them with public keys, something that all experts have called for. For Darío García, “regulation is long overdue and is aimed at the financial sphere, not the legal sphere“, because “for now only the fiscal sphere can be regulated”.

When the regulation is activated on 13 February 2023, “it will be particularly important that the services provided comply with the services determined by MiCA, so that the custody requirements are fully met, in which there must be a 1:1 backing of the cryptoassets deposited by customers”, explains Alfonso Ayuso, head of the Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain vertical of the Spanish Association of Fintech and Insurtech, the Spanish Association of Fintech and Insurtech. Even so, Herminio Fernández reminds us that “the world of crypto was not born to be regulated in an extreme way“. “The blockchain is a blessing for the world, but governments have to regulate it”.

Source: el Periódico de España/activos

Repercussions of the article in other media:

Volkswagen innovates by being the first automotive brand in Mexico to use the “Metaverse” to support its sales process.

By Susana | 9 December, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Volkswagen Mexico relied on the metaverse as a tool in its sales process and to offer new experiences to consumers.
At the beginning of the year, Volkswagen launched an integrated metaverse campaign to promote the safety and intelligence features of its latest Polo model: the IQ.DRIVE.
“Volkswagen reaffirms its commitment to offer new experiences to all its customers and continues its journey in the digital world to consolidate its position as the most innovative automaker in Mexico,” the announcement states.

In the Volkswagen metaverse, customers were introduced to the world of the brand in a fully digital atmosphere. They were also able to access the company’s platforms, such as its YouTube channel and Virtual Studio.

The automotive company, Volkswagen Mexico, relied on the metaverse as a tool in its sales process and to offer new experiences to consumers. With this, the firm seeks to position itself as a leader in the Mexican industry.

According to Volkswagen, the “Metaverse” is an initiative that responds to the constant evolution of the brand, and began with an activation in Puebla. The dynamic allowed participants to interact in a different way and have their first contact with the vehicles in the digital world, to later acquire them in the real world.

“Volkswagen reaffirms its commitment to offer new experiences to all its customers and continues its path in the digital world to consolidate itself as the most innovative automotive firm in Mexico, being the first to use the “Metaverse” as a tool in its sales process; it is a new way to have the “first contact” with a car”.

In this way, the automobile manufacturer is constantly evolving, while at the same time advancing the development of its own metaverse. At the Volkswagen activation, users were served by fully digital advisors, who showed them all the features of the different models and scheduled appointments that will complete the experience at the dealerships.

“The Volkswagen brand is constantly evolving and has created its “Metaverse” to provide a fully immersive experience for its customers”.

Volkswagen’s commitment to the Metaverse in 2022

The automotive industry is not exempt from global technology trends, and the metaverse has proven to be one of them. Volkswagen is an example of how the latest developments in virtual reality can be adapted and integrated into business management processes in an increasingly demanding and dynamic business environment.

Earlier this year, Volkswagen launched an integrated metaverse campaign to promote the safety and intelligence features of its latest Polo model: the IQ.DRIVE. Simultaneously, it launched an interactive NFT treasure hunt, ‘Game On’, which allowed participants to win a PlayStation 5 (PS5) and advanced driving lessons from the Volkswagen Advanced Driving Academy.

The event also coincided with the launch of the Polo GTI, in the Gran Turismo 7 racing game. At the time Bridget Harpur, marketing director of Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles, highlighted the initiative.

“We are really proud of our playful and immersive campaign, as it made an exceptional impact on the consumer while transporting Volkswagen and its audience to a new universe. It is also an excellent example of how participation and enjoyment overlap”.

To see this innovative interaction of the brand with customers we leave you the following video:

Source: BeInCrypto

Congress approves the Startups Law, positioning Spain at the forefront and boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem

By Susana | 2 December, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

The Lower House gives the green light to the law with a large majority and a broad consensus as a result of the joint work of the Government with the sector and the rest of the political parties.
Together with the investment programmes financed with the European Next Generation funds, the Startups Law represents the definitive boost for the Spanish ecosystem of fast-growing companies in the digital field, with high added value, innovative and with global projection.
The Startups Law includes tax incentives, eliminates bureaucratic obstacles for the creation of and investment in technology-based start-ups, as well as encouraging the attraction of foreign talent and the return of Spaniards through, among other instruments, a streamlined procedure for granting visas.
Spain is at the forefront of Europe with the first law focused on the creation and promotion of start-ups and the attraction of international talent and capital.
Among the improvements included during the parliamentary process are greater incentives for serial entrepreneurship, a focus on rural entrepreneurship and specific plans to retain talent that finishes their studies in Spain.
It is expected to come into force in January 2023.

The Plenary of the Congress of Deputies has today definitively approved the Law for the Promotion of the Emerging Companies Ecosystem (better known as the Startups Law) following the incorporation of amendments from the Senate. Promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, the law places Spain at the forefront of Europe in the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem with an innovative vocation, as well as in the creation and growth of emerging companies and the attraction of talent and international capital.

The Startups Law is one of the major reform projects of this legislature and forms part of the policies to improve the country’s business climate, together with the Crea y Crece Law and the Bankruptcy Law, already approved this year. It is also one of the most important milestones for this year within the Recovery Plan and the Digital Spain Agenda 2026, the roadmap for the ambitious digitalisation plan that the country is carrying out.

The approval of the final text by a large majority in Congress comes after a journey of months, which began in July 2021 with the start of the public hearing process for the Draft Bill, and intense work with the different parliamentary groups and stakeholders in the sector. During this process, more than 80 amendments submitted by the parties have been incorporated with the aim of improving the initial text and strengthening the consensus around it.

Some of the improvements included during the parliamentary process and the passage through the Senate are the following:

Greater incentives for “serial” entrepreneurship are contemplated. The founding partners of start-ups embarking on new projects will be able to benefit unlimitedly from the benefits of the Law.
Rural entrepreneurship is boosted, launching pilot projects in rural environments and aligning the initiatives envisaged in the Law with the Intelligent Rural Territory, a project that envisages the incorporation of new technologies in areas such as agriculture, livestock, urban planning and the environment in villages.
The requirements are made more flexible and the possibility of retaining talent that completes their studies to seek employment in Spain is incorporated.
A special Digital Nomad visa is created for holders who work for themselves or for employers anywhere in the world in national territory.

Main axes to boost the entrepreneurial fabric

With the Startups Law, the Government seeks to stimulate investment and attract talent, encourage collaboration between SMEs, large companies and start-ups, promote R&D&I, also in the Administration, and foster cooperation between start-ups and entrepreneurs and universities and research centres.

The regulation defines the category of start-up company as one that is no more than 5 years old (or 7 for strategic sectors); that is not listed on the stock exchange and does not distribute dividends; whose headquarters or registered office is permanently established in Spain; with 60% of the workforce employed in Spain; and that accumulates a maximum turnover of 10 million euros.

It must also accredit “innovative character”, understood as the development of new or improved products or services. To this end, seven lines of criteria have been incorporated to be assessed by the National Innovation Company (ENISA), including the “degree of innovation”, “degree of market attractiveness”, “phase of the company’s life”, “business model-scalability”, “competition” and “volume of customers”.

The main objective of the Law is to promote administrative flexibility, for which it provides for a one-stop, telematic window managed by ENISA for the certification of innovative companies as Spanish start-ups; the non-obligatory requirement to obtain a foreigner’s identification number (NIE) for non-resident investors, requiring only tax identification numbers (NIF) for them and their representatives; and the minimum cost of notary and registry fees.

The text incorporates important tax measures, such as the reduction of the tax rate on corporate income tax and non-resident income tax, from the general rate of 25% to 15% in the first four years after the tax base is positive. Or the increase in the amount of the exemption from taxation of stock options from 12,000 to 50,000 euros per year in the case of delivery by start-ups of shares or participations derived from the exercise of purchase options.

In addition, it also increases the maximum deduction base for investment in new or recently created companies (from 60,000 to 100,000 euros per year), the deduction rate (from 30% to 50%), as well as the period in which it is considered recently created, which increases from 3 to 5 years, in general, or to 7 years for companies in certain sectors.

The attraction, retention and return of national and international talent is another pillar of the Law. For this reason, it envisages visa and residency facilities for highly qualified start-up workers, as well as for non-resident Spanish workers for at least 5 years.

It also seeks to improve the regulatory framework through test environments and sandboxes. In this sense, it will allow start-ups to test their innovation for one year, in a controlled environment, in order to assess the usefulness, viability and impact of technological innovations in the different sectors of productive activity.

Leading Europe

The Startups Law is the first law specifically aimed at creating an innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe.

It complements and reinforces the impact of investments financed with Next Generation funds, such as ENISA’s programme to support startups led by women or ICO’s Next Tech fund to scale innovative companies in disruptive technologies.

Spain already has an entrepreneurial ecosystem of 10,000 companies, with 140,000 workers in a growing number of poles of attraction in the territory, and a market value that has multiplied by 20 in the last 10 years.

In recent years, its entrepreneurial ecosystem has established itself in the TOP 20 worldwide, above the European average (GEM 20-21), and ranks fourth among European startup ecosystems. In recent years, it has strengthened its leadership in this field, positioning itself as a hub for digital talent in the EU and being one of the founding countries of the ESNA (European Startup Nation Alliance) together with Austria and Portugal. This alliance is aimed at generating a coordinated digital entrepreneurship ecosystem in Europe, with the goal of doubling the number of technological unicorns in the EU by 2030. This is a large-scale challenge in which Spain is establishing its leadership thanks to initiatives such as the recently approved regulation.

After its final approval in Congress, the Startups Law is expected to come into force at the beginning of 2023.

DOCUMENT
View press release (PDF – 283 KB)

Source: portal.mineco.gob.es

Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation grants aid to metaverse projects

By Susana | 25 November, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Spain has been characterised as one of the fastest growing countries in the adoption of blockchain technology, investments in the crypto ecosystem and web 3.0.

According to official data from Triple A, it is estimated that around 1.1 million people invest in crypto in the country. Likewise, thanks to recent interventions by different government departments, the crypto community has been strengthened in Spain.

Recently, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, granted financial aid worth €3.8 million to more than 22 metaverse projects.

The financial support from the government aims to boost the development of technologies such as virtual reality and extended reality in the field of audiovisual production and the video game sector.

The ministry reported that out of the 94 applications received, 22 have been selected. The projects behind these applications are related to emerging technologies, associated with the ‘Web 3’ and the metaverse, and are used for the production of audiovisual content, video games and animation products.

Some of the projects that have benefited from financial support are:

The Game Kitchen, which received more than 389,000 euros, Open Canarias (332,000 euros), Gamelearn (324,000 euros), Uttopion (311,000 euros), BCN Visuals Studio (292,000 euros), Team Training Consulting (230,000 euros), Linking Realities (188,000 euros), One Millionbot (175,000 euros), BIM6D Consulting & Performance (160,000 euros), Visual Technology (143,000 euros), Orange Software (132. 000), Bmat Licensing (130,000 euros), Home Design Labs (126,000 euros), Lastur Bookin (122,000 euros), Bravent (120,000 euros), Ingeniería Logística Tectónica (109,000 euros), Inside Goya (99,000 euros), Invelon Technologies and Yerba Buena VR Europe (95,000 euros each), Nautilus Experiencias Digitales (77,500 euros), Vsion Studio Interactive and Nabegos España (72,000 euros each).

The selected projects are aimed at experimental development and process innovation for immersive content in various fields such as culture, training, technology, industry and patient welfare, among others.

Audiovisual Hub for Spain

The aim of the government aid is to set in motion a plan to create a new Audiovisual Hub for Spain by 2026. The companies that have received aid from the country are distributed in different areas of the country such as Madrid, Aragon, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Basque Country and Valencia, among others.

One of the positive aspects of the initiative is that the companies that participated in the project were required to have at least ¼ of their workforce made up of women. In other words, this initiative is encouraging the participation of women in the web 3.0 industry.

In this way, Spain seeks to position itself as one of the fastest growing countries in the European crypto, Web3 and metaverse ecosystem.

Source: Beincrypto

Interview with Herminio Fernández de Blas, CEO of EurocoinPay, on the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining on Capital Radio

By Susana | 11 November, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

In the following podcasts you can listen to the interview with Herminio Fernández, CEO of EurocoinPay and Alejandro Casas, from ClimateCoin, on the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining, conducted by Sergio Fernández, in his programme Cryptocapital on Capital Radio.

Source: Capital Radio

Web3 sees 15 new scam smart contracts an hour — Solidus Labs

By Susana | 31 October, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Solidus Labs, which has been monitoring 12 leading blockchains, has detected the majority of scam-like tokens originating from Binance’s BNB Smart Chain.

The Web3 and cryptocurrency space is seeing a significant amount of smart contract scams proliferating, with blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs saying it has detected on average 15 newly deployed scams every hour.

Solidus Labs said on Oct. 27 that it had been monitoring 12 blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon and BNB Chain since Oct. 10, and in that time, had detected 188,525 smart contract scams.

Former United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Kathy Kraninger, who is now Solidus’ vice president of regulatory affairs, said in the statement that “while some of the big rug pulls and scams make the news, […] the full picture stemming from our data shows the vast majority of these scams go unnoticed.”

The firm also shed some light on the number of tokens that are scams, saying 12% of BEP-20 tokens — BNB Smart Chain’s token standard — exhibit fraudulent characteristics marking it as the blockchain with the most cryptocurrency scams.

Ethereum’s native ERC-20 token standard came second, with 8% of the blockchains’ tokens exhibiting scam-like characteristics, according to the company. It also estimated around $910 million worth of Ether related to scams had passed through centralized and regulated exchanges.

Solidus said these so-called “scam token smart contracts” are hard-wired to steal investors’ funds and fit alongside other abusive practices such as rug pulls, where the developer steals the invested funds and token impersonations that aim to trick people into investing by mimicking popular cryptocurrencies.

It said these types of contracts are “automatically deployed and easily repeated” with scammers able to quickly complete thousands of low-value attacks with exchanges, regulators and authorities none the wiser.

It’s not only scamming cryptocurrencies that investors need to watch for, hacks are also on the rise, with October being possibly the biggest month ever for crypto hacking activity, according to analytics firm Chainalysis.

Chainalysis director of research Kim Grauer said in an interview with Cointelegraph that the amount of value stolen in crypto hacks is on track to hit all-time highs in 2022, with a vast majority targeting decentralized finance (DeFi).

Source: Cointelegraph